Building The Adaptive Capacity Of Sugarcane Farmers In Northern Belize

Simplified Approval Process CONCEPT NOTE Template V.1.1 GREEN CLIMATE FUND PAGE 3 OF 4 farmers (of which 1,188 are women cane farmers) (BSI-ASR 2018). It also provides direct employment to 11% of the Belizean work force and contributes to 34% of Agricultural GDP. It is clear that these challenges are beyond the historical coping range of local farmers and urgently needs to be addressed. 7. The Government of Belize (GOB) has made efforts to mainstream climate change action across the Agriculture sector. Such efforts are reflected in policies, strategies and action plans that aim to build climate resilience of famers and their support systems. Belize’s National Climate Change Policy, Strategy and Action Plan to Address Climate Change (2014) recognize that farming systems and practices are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate variability and change. The document highlights that economically important crops in Belize such as sugarcane will be adversely affected by warmer weather from high temperature along with flooding, saline intrusion, and soil salinization leading to low agricultural yields As a consequence, the policy document provides a list of short and near-term measures to address critical gaps in technological developments relevant to crop productivity, better soil management practices, diversification of drought resistant crops and farm production adaptations which include land use, land topography and increasing use of low-water irrigation systems. These recommendations are consistent with the proposed project activities and are also highlighted in policies and strategies specific to the Agriculture sector. 8. For example, the National Agriculture and Food Policy (NAFP) of Belize (2015-2030) is based on five pillars and provides the necessary direction to build a robust and sustainable Agriculture sector. Due to the probability of hydrometeorological hazard to affect the livelihood of farmers the NAFP promote climate action under the Sustainable Agriculture and Risk Management pillar. Actions under this pillar seek to promote best practices in disaster risk management, climate change adaption and mitigation by strengthening pro-environment policies and institutions through integrated environmental management. Other sector specific efforts, such as the National Adaptation Strategy to address Climate Change in the Agriculture Sector in Belize (2015) continues to highlight the importance of addressing climate change impacts in Agriculture due to its importance to the social, economic and environmental sustainability. The strategy provides specific adaptation measures to address the current and future vulnerabilities to climate variability and climate change. This is based on a review of the relevant policies, legislation, institutions, organizations and resources directly or indirectly involved with agriculture and food production. Here, measures presented are to address specific impacts of climate change through flood and drought management mechanisms, integrated pest management, and other general measures such as community resilience training. Belize’s Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy (GSDS) (2016-2019) also mentions actions to combat climate change and achieve agricultural sustainability as part of the country’s development planning priorities. The GSDS maintains that disaster risk and climate change resilience are to be mainstreamed into all relevant development decision-making. Climate change action in the agricultural sector is explicitly stated under action 44 “Enhance efforts aimed at reducing risk and achieving greater agricultural resilience to weather-related disaster and climate change”. Many credence that any action taken towards climate adaptation in the agriculture sector presents mitigation co-benefits. As a result, this has taken shape in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and National Communications (NC) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of many counties. Belize’s NDC (2016) and NC (2016) maintains that improved farming practices, increase access to climate resilient crop varieties and climate risk information, improved soil and water management and improved efficiency in the value chain agricultural goods and services does not only allows Belize to meet its mitigation obligations under international climate agreements but also allows for the country to achieve its sustainable development targets and goals. 9. There is an urgent need for investment programmes that would provide suitable and sustainable responses to current and future climate related challenges. However, the move towards climate-resilient sugarcane farmers faces a number of barriers that limit their adaptive capacities. The main barriers for adaptation are related to lack of investments, behavioural obstacles and technology gaps. Other barriers include limited technical capacities and access to resources and knowledge to design, implement and maintain innovative adaptation and mitigation interventions. Also, farmers are not appropriately informed on increasing climate risks and management options. For example, access to climate resilient cane varieties is very limited. This results in farmers not being able to adopt proven land and water adaptation

Simplified Approval Process CONCEPT NOTE Template V.1.1 GREEN CLIMATE FUND PAGE 4 OF 4 measures. Consequently, any reduction to agricultural productivity due to changes in climate will have significant impacts on their food security, income, well-being and overall adaptive capacity B.2. Project / Programme description (max. 1 page) 10. Sugarcane is primarily grown in the Corozal and Orange Walk districts covering over 2,508 sq. miles (approximately 70,000 acres under production). This represents a total of 5,200 small farmers over 53 rural communities (29 in Corozal and 24 in Orange Walk) that have been adversely impacted by climate variability and change. As a result, the project is a joint public- private sector initiative that aims to strengthen the adaptive capacity of sugarcane producers so they are better equip to respond to the challenges of a changing climate. This includes: improving framers access to climate resilient crop varieties, promoting wise-use practices and the integrated management of land and water resources, improve farmer understanding of climate risk, threats and response options and improved access to financing. 11. Component 1: Improving crop diversity and farming practices to reduce climate risk and strengthen adaptive capacity. This component will allow for the scaling up of climate smart practices that have been piloted among sugar farmers in both Orange Walk and Corozal districts. Activities will support a set of technological and management packages to improve access and availability of climate resilient sugarcane crop varieties. This will be accompanied by the promotion of climate smart farming practices in land preparation, planting, husbandry and harvesting practices. Results: 1.1 17,000 acres of climate resilient sugarcane lands. Activity 1.1.1 Scale up production of available seed varieties from 26 acres to 2000 acers and establish varietal nurseries accessible to small farmers. Activity 1.1.2 Train farmer groups and agricultural service providers on varietal adaptation, climate threats and impacts, and adaptation response and techniques. Activity 1.1.3 Climate proofing of 17,000 acres of cane fields based on the most appropriate crop variety and agro ecological zones. Activity 1.1.4 Upscale the green Harvesting programme from 500 acres to 10,000 acres. 12. Component 2: Sustainable water and land management techniques to build farmer resilience to Climate Change This activity will improve soil fertility and access to water resources to cope with extreme drought events. Measures implemented will also provide mitigation co-benefits as land management techniques will improve the sequestration capacity of soils. The use of organic residue to conserve soil nutrients and moisture will allow for improved soil fertility and ecological functions (water filtration and retention, carbon sequestration, enhancement of the soil hosted biodiversity). Also, this component will aim to scale up drainage, water capture and storage and sustainable irrigation techniques in high priority drought and flood prone areas. Result 2.1: Adaptive flood, drought and pest management Activity 2.1.1. Promote the use of organic residue (e.g., post-harvest organic sugarcane waste) and other soil management practices to conserve soil nutrients and moisture through the Famer Field School programme Activity 2.1.2 Scale up the use of biological methods to manage crop pest in mulch cover. Activity 2.1.3. Improved water capture and storage capacity and implement climate smart irrigation techniques for a 1,000 acres of drought prone farms lands Activity 2.1.4. Improve drainage for 2,000 acres of flood prone farms lands based on the recommendation of the drainage and irrigations assessment done.

Simplified Approval Process CONCEPT NOTE Template V.1.1 GREEN CLIMATE FUND PAGE 5 OF 4 13. Component 3: Capacity building and improving learning mechanism for long term adaptation to climate threats and impacts This activity will ensure, in a gender inclusive manner, that the project provides useful learning materials that allows for the dissemination of knowledge and the implementation of innovative solutions and best practices. It is designed to contribute to a comprehensive and integrated response by sugarcane farmers to climate change. Capacity building activities will respond to needs expressed by cane farmer associations and other stakeholders such as SIRDI and BSIASR. Activities will include financial management of women, training of youth in agricultural services, other services provision, creation and training of agricultural development bodies. Also, the project will upscale existing knowledge management platforms to mainstream climate change impacts and local strategic responses. Result 3.1: Increase understanding of climate information, threats, response options and disseminate Activity 3.1.1. Expand the Farmer Assistance Information Platform to disseminate flood, drought and pest forecast information to farmers Activity 3.1.2. Strengthen the capacity of farmer’s associations, agricultural extension and advisory service and financial institutions and other relevant stakeholder in adaptation planning, climate smart best practices and financial management. Activity 3.1.3. Develop a farmer friendly application for the Farmer Assistance Information System and disseminate. Activity 3.1.4. Develop a digital farmer friendly financial model for sustaining best practices adapted to climate shocks. Activity 3.1.5. Identify options for the development for new products and markets Activity 3.1.6. Enhance entrepreneurial skills and financial literacy of farmers ( inclusive of youth and women). 14. Component 4: Project Management- The project management unit will be responsible for implementing the above components. The major activities to be financed under this component will be: 4.1 Planning and budgeting; 4.2 Procurement of equipment and materials, including computers, office equipment, and communication facilities; 4.3 Recruitment of project staff and consultancy services; and 4.4 Monitoring and reporting on project activities and impact. 15. The outputs from various initiatives implemented across the sugar belt to build the resilience of small farmers provide the foundation for the effective application of lessons learnt and for the creation of an environment for behavioral change and scaling up. At the farm level, several climate resilient agricultural practices have already demonstrated to result in an increase in productivity, cost-savings and increased incomes for farmers while reducing carbon emissions. Firstly, project activities aim at improving crop diversity to strengthen adaptive capacity are rooted in over 15 years of varietal research. The Belize Sugarcane Industry Limited in partnership with the Sugarcane Industry for Research and Development Institute test over 30,000 cane varieties for resilience to climate conditions and quality performance annually. During this period 15,000 varieties are planted in families of 50 varieties; therefore, 300 families are tested in this cycle. Of the 300 families evaluated, 30 are selected for Stage I. These 30 families of 500 varieties each are evaluated based on phenotype. Stage II selects 10% of varieties in Stage I and is the first time varieties are vegetative propagation. Stage III evaluates yield and quality on the Plant Cane and 1st Ratoon cycle. Stage IV, the final stage in the selection process, is the most extensive and studies the varieties over a four-year period. Stage IV’s are multilocation trials with 10-12 varieties. Through this lengthy research process, the BSI/SIRDI research program has identified five potentially good varietal candidates that have been tested with 13 key farmers and can begin to help build the resilience of the varietal compendium of the rest of the Belize Sugar Industry. 16. Several activities related to good farming practice, the integrated management and wise-use of soil and water resources will be scaled-up in an effort to strengthen the capacity of small farmers for adaptation to climate threats

Simplified Approval Process CONCEPT NOTE Template V.1.1 GREEN CLIMATE FUND PAGE 6 OF 4 beyond the project implementation. These activities stem from several pilot projects implemented across the sugar belt that have shown promising outcomes and tremendous potential for scaling-up. For example, BSI irrigation pilot projects covers over 482 acres in the San Lorenzo Village in the Orange Walk District. A demonstration farm displays climate resilient irrigation techniques along with other best practices in order to increase sugarcane yields. By implementing the above, the 5-year yield average of the San Lorenzo pilot farm increase from 66 TCH to 95 TCH. In addition, cane quality to improve from 12.23 to 12.91 pol % in cane. The San Lorenzo farm is expected to incrementally produce 617 MT more sugar, which would bring in additional revenue to cane farmers. These efforts have resulted in a Drainage and Irrigation plan that can be scaled up to the other affected areas within the sugar belt. Also, BSI’s Mechanical Harvesting and Sugar Can Quality projects have generated best practices that can be scaledup to build the resilience of farmers. After almost 10 years of trials, BSI introduce mechanical harvesting to 49 smallscale farmers. Mechanical harvesting of sugar cane proved to be beneficial to farmers as it addressed three key challenges namely- (1) shortage of labor, (2) high harvesting cost due to inefficient harvesting and (3) sterilized soil caused by the burning and double burning of cane fields. This not only allowed farmers to respond to the shortage of manual labor, but also to harvest their fields in large contiguous blocks, eliminate unnecessary tasks and activities and consequently reducing their costs (fuel and labor) by an average of US 2.75 per ton of cane. While the Sugar Can Quality Project was designed to offer technical assistance with an educational component for test group and harvesting group leaders on how to select the most mature cane ready for harvesting using latest cane quality testing technology (Near Infra-Red). Farmers can now make better harvesting plans, which helps them improve sugar yields for the entire sugar industry. During the launch, six test groups from all three cane farmer associations signed up for participation for the first round of pre-harvest cane quality testing. At the end of the year, a total of 1,804 cane farmers participated to include 6 test groups and 78 reaping group leaders. The program is now entering its second year, doubling participation from 6 to 12 Quality Test Groups reaching two-thirds of Belize’s northern industry farmers. 17. Furthermore, climate resilient farming practices have been transferred to farmers through SIRDI’s Farmer Field School Program. In 2011 the Farmer Field School (FFS) methodology was adopted as an extension services to build the capacities of cane farmers. The FFS program is based on the principle of learning through practical examples and “hands-on” application. Along with fluid interchange of experience among all participants. These exchanges are the strength behind the FFS modules and the field is the main source of learning. The approach has improved efficiency and productivity and contributed to reducing poverty and be better prepared farmers to face the challenges of a changing climate. To date 24 Farmer Field Schools have been executed and 4 with Educational Institutions. For the 24 FFS each catering for an average of 25 farmers for a two-year program. The farmers training program has trained over 600 farmers who represent over 2,500 cane farmers. 18. Also, SIRDI has adopted a “new” and integrated approach to prevent and control froghopper infestation. The use of a biological agent such as Metarhizium Anisopliae control froghopper infestation by attaching its spores, known as conidia, on the cuticle of the insect. It then produces an appressorium and penetrates the insect. Upon successful entry into the host body; it divides and produces hyphal bodies that invades the host tissues. Finally, the fungus emerges from the dead host and produces more conidial spores. This also have tremendous potential for scaling-up beyond the sugar industry since this biological pesticide can also control pests within the poultry, organic production, vegetable, fruits, and citrus and livestock industries. These interventions have been proven to contribute to development of farmers and are well documented 19. The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) coordinates the Caribbean region’s response to Climate Change, working on effective, innovative and transformative solutions and projects to combat the environmental impacts of Climate variability, Climate Change and extreme weather events. The Centre has more than ten (10) years of experience in carrying out catalytic type projects in the Caribbean region, and scaling these up with national governments to bring about transformational change. The Centre’s comparative advantage lies primarily in its ability to provide high-level technical expertise, introduce innovative approaches and tools, and strengthen the operational, technical and managerial skills of national institutions for the implementation of impactful initiatives to combat the

Simplified Approval Process CONCEPT NOTE Template V.1.1 GREEN CLIMATE FUND PAGE 7 OF 4 impacts of climate variability and change. Additionally, the Centre has established key partnerships with SIRDI and BSI who possess specialized expertise in sugarcane production. In managing this project, the Centre and will appoint a special Project Manager, with a dedicated Accountant, and an agriculturalist and will draw upon the other collective expertise within the Centre to carry out the Project Implementation function. All activities must be consistent with the Centre’s approved Environmental and Social Safeguard (ESS) Policy to ensure they are in consonance with the objectives of that Policy. Furthermore, gender and no-discriminatory considerations and strict adherence to financial best practices will be pursued. The CCCCC has an established and proven track-record as the leader in climate change adaptation planning and management throughout the Caribbean. It has many operational program linkages and networks. This unique capacity will ensure effective and efficient project delivery, and guarantee the sustainability of program outcomes and impacts. The implementation arrangements with the executing entities and implementing partners are outlined below. Key Financial, Operational Risks and Mitigation Measures Identified.

Simplified Approval Process CONCEPT NOTE Template V.1.1 GREEN CLIMATE FUND PAGE 8 OF 4 Risks Level of Probability of Risk Occurrences Failure to adopt the new Medium Low cane varieties and it’s best management practices Experience in similar Medium information sharing projects demonstrated the potential for cane farmer sensitivities on use of farmer data particularly with breach of confidentiality Low Insufficiency, delay of High agro-credit schemes for farmers Medium Mitigation Measures Technical assistance from BSI to include visits to our cane varieties lab and farms to see first-hand the results of using new varieties. Project Manager and field officers will ensure and follow up with farmers on their progress The FAIS system and a dissemination campaign will specifically address the perceptions created around “breach

Belize is located on the mainland of Central America between 15 45'and 18 30'north latitude and 87 30' and 89 15' west longitude. The country is boarded by Mexico to the North, Guatemala to the West and South, and the Caribbean Sea to the East. Like many low-lying coastal nations, Belize is vulnerable to the impacts of climate .